Auxiliary table top



Nov. 11, 3947.

A. G. MERKLE AUXILIARY TABLE TOP Filed Aug. 31, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l I n ueutor A/Pfi/w? 6'. MemrLE A. G. MERKLE 2,430,682

AUXILIARY TABLE TOP Filed Aug. 31, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' I I Inventor H R G. ,MmwLE i Attorneys Patented Nov. 11, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUXILIARY TABLE TOP Arthur G. Merkle, Ferguson, Mo.

Application August 31, 1945, Serial No. 613,734

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in table tops, and more particularly to an auxiliary table top adapted for removably placing on the regular top of a table, such as a card table, or the like, and the invention has for its primary object to provide an auxiliary table top of this character adapted for use as a game table and designed particularly for use in playing various card games' An important object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary table top of this character including a trough extending around the edges of the table for holding poker chips or similar articles, and also embodying means for swingably attaching a glass holder to the underside of the table top at its outer edge to support a drinking glass in an outwardly projected position at the side of the table and in which the glass holder may be swung inwardly into an out of the way position under the table top when not in use.

A further important object of the invention is to provide an auxiliary table top of this character of inexpensive construction and which, at the same time, is strong and durable, neat and attractive in appearance, and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a plan view with the centerpiece removed,

Figure 2 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away and shown in section,

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional View of one of the drinking-glass holders and'with the table top shown partly in elevation,

Figure 4 is an enlarged top plan view of one of the segments forming the trough around the edges of the table top,

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of one of the segments forming the trough,

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the segments forming the trough and with a portion of the center of the table top shown in section.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein, for the purpose of illustration, I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 designates the auxiliary table top generally and which may be constructed of any desirable shape, such as octagonal shape, as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, the table top including a flat, central section 6 which may be of plywood or other suitable, rigid, inexpensive material and which may be provided with a' covering centerpiece (not shown), such as felt or other suitablematerial or otherwise decorated 0r finished.

To the edges of the center section 6 is secured a trough member 1 which is composed of a plurality of segments 8 and shown in detail in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings, the side edges of the segments 8 being formed with flanges 9 which may be continuous or divided, as illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawing, and the side edges of the segments are placed in edge-to-edge relation and the flanges thereof secured together in any suitable manner, such as by welding, or the like.

Portions of the segments 8 adjacent the inner and outer edges thereof are'bent upwardly to form the inner and outer upstanding walls Hi and H of the trough, and the inner end of the segments are bent inwardly as at l2 to underlie the center section 6 and are secured thereto in any suitable manner.

The outer wall I l of the trough extends upwardly beyond the inner wall l0 and terminate-s substantially in the plane of the center section 6, and the outer ends of the segments 8 beyond the outer wall I l are bent outwardly to form a relatively broad rim l3 at the outer edge of the trough and are then bent downwardly to form a skirt or rail [4 spaced outwardly from the outer wall H of the trough, and which extends downwardly slightly below the bottom of the trough 8.

To the underside of the bottom of the trough is secured a horizontally positioned, U-shaped bracket [5, the bight portion of the bracket being positioned against the inside of the lower end of the rail M, A vertical pin I6 is secured to a drinking glass holder I1 and the pin is pivotally secured to the bracket l5.

The disk I! is in the form of a flat, annular member which may be of any desired configuration and rigidly secured to the lower end of the pin l6 adjacent one edge for swinging movement in bearings provided by the legs of the bracket I5 into and out of position under the trough 1, as indicated by the full and dotted line positions in Figure 1 of the drawing. The holder l 1 is formed with a central opening I8 adapted for receiving a flanged, cup-shaped coaster [9 in which a drinking glass 20 is supported in a position with the upper edge of the glass substantially in a plane of the upper surface of the table top.

The auxiliary table top 5 is adapted for placing on top of a conventional table, such as the card table shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 and designated 2!, or other suitable flat surface to thus support the auxiliary table top in a desired convenient position. The inner wall It! is formed of continuous arcuate sections as shown in Figure 1, the ends of adjacent sections being disposed at right angles to each other to accommodate the corners of the card table to secure the auxiliary table top against turning movement. The table top may also be provided with legs (not shown) to support the top in the usual manner.

In view of the foregoing description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of the construction, operation and advantages of the. device will be quite apparent to those killed in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though I have herein shown :and described a preferred embodiment of my invention that the same is susceptible to certain changes'fully comprehended'by the spirit of thejinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is:

An auxiliary table top comprising a center section, and a trough surrounding said center section and comprising an inner vertical wall having a lateral flange underlying and secured to the bottom edge of the center section whereby said inner Wall depends from said edge of said section and the side of said section forms a part of the inner wall of the trough, said trough having an outer vertical wall upstanding to the level of said section with a protecting skirt surrounding the same.

ARTHUR G. IWERKLE.

,REFER-ENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,655,607 Hueter Jan. 10, 1928 1,886,806 Hanley Nov. 8, 1932 583,943 Rayman June 8, 1897 1,098,482 Combes June 2, 1914 

